Farewell Milwaukee

FM - 2016

Doubtfire Sessions EP - 2014

When It Sinks In - 2011

Can't Please You, Can't Please Me - 2013

Autumn Rest Easy - 2009

"'Hurt No More' features Farewell Milwaukee’s knack for jangle rock – reminiscent of both Tom Petty and fellow Minnesotans The Jayhawks. The art of the straight forward pop rocker is not lost, as Farewell Milwaukee makes sound, feel and melody uniquely accessible and vibrant."

- Glide Magazine

"On “True Love Don’t Leave Scars,” though, the guys strum their way through a woodsy, summery sound, bringing to mind the warm California sun that shone down on their country-rock ancestors back in the ‘60s and ‘70s."

- Andrew Leahey, American Songwriter

"A compelling set of songs, one that invites further - and frequent -- returns, even while making a connection first time around."

- Lee Zimmerman, No Depression

"At first glance, I couldn't believe a band as "young" as Farewell Milwaukee had enough miles behind them to sound so much like a band from the late '60s. For an instant, I heard Neil Young, The Band and The Allman Brothers. But the greatest part about Farewell Milwaukee's sound is that it's original."

- Mike Pengra, Minnesota Public Radio

"Can't Please You, Can't Please Me, this new album has a vintage quintessential Minneapolis sound. So good."

- Paul Fletcher, Cities 97 Radio

"Can't Please You, Can't Please Me is the sort of record you can put on, hit play, and leave on repeat for hours."

Headlining performances throughout the midwest including a performance at the legendary First Ave Mainroom, a sold-out show at the Turf Club, two sold-out shows at the Aster Cafe and previous performances at the Cedar Cultural Center. Festival performances include the Mid West Music Festival, RiverSong Music Festival and Appleton Wisconsin’s Mile of Music Festival.

2018 song placement on CMT's Nashville.

Previously acted as direct support for the Lumineers, J.D. McPherson, Blitzen Trapper, Truth & Salvage Co., Mason Jennings, Noah & the Whale, and more. Recent videos have been premiered by Paste, PopMatters, and American Songwriter while being featured on CMT.

ABOUT FAREWELL MILWAUKEE

Minneapolis band Farewell Milwaukee released their fourth full-length album, FM, on September 9. FM is the product of successfully achieving the balance of furthering their artistic careers with a family life. “[The album] has the first song ever written about my daughter, called ‘Hurt No More,’” says front man Ben Lubeck. "I texted my wife a few weeks ago after revisiting the album saying that this was the record I wanted my daughter to remember me by. Musically and lyrically.”

Mainstays of the Minneapolis music scene since 2008, Farewell Milwaukee embraces the role that their Midwestern towns have played in shaping them artistically, garnering them fans through their authentic lyrics, lush vocal harmonies, and an honest sincerity at live shows. It is because of this, they have gathered accolades from local and national press, landed a song placement on major-network TV, opened for the Lumineers (among others), and are featured on compilations alongside Mumford & Sons, Adele and Amos Lee.

The band’s success has given them perspective and an appreciation for their roots, which continuously comes across in FM. The album, filled with a thematic sense of grounding, was shaped by the stage-of-life lens of being husbands and fathers, and it is this concept of home base that made a concrete impression on FM’s overall flowing sound.

Produced by Minneapolis’ Jason Orris and recorded in Terrarium Music Studios, FM is the first album the band has recorded in town since their debut album, Autumn Rest Easy. Farewell Milwaukee has previously shied away from recording close to home in order to keep the flow of the process as smooth as possible; however, for this album, being close to home had a positive and productive effect on the record. “We’ve tried to avoid that [recording in town] in the past with the fear of it being a distraction and taking away from the process. But it seemed to make things very comfortable this time around in the best possible way. It seemed like the easiest record we've ever made. The logistics were simplified, we slept in our own beds at night,” says Lubeck.

Through the ease of the recording process, the band was able to take time to experiment with new sounds; this creativity and adventurousness brings FM to life through the addition of strings, steel guitar, and other sonic touches that the six-piece group perfected in the studio. “One of our greatest strengths is that we are all sympathetic to each other’s playing,” added Lubeck. “We give each other space to play the others’ instruments and take turns letting certain instruments take the spotlight.”

The unique sounds of the album make it difficult to fit FM into a particular genre (call it folk rock with a head and a tail, as described in an earlier album review from the Netherlands); however, genre tags are less important when projects like FM have beautifully crafted instrumentation accompanied by powerful lyrics and melodies.

“We're making the best music of our lives while experiencing some of life's most precious moments with our children. We're truly living out our personal dreams and couldn't be happier. My three-year-old runs around the house with a bedazzled pink guitar playing harmonica as loud as she can, trying to be like her daddy, and I don't have to experience that through the screen of an iPhone,” says Lubeck.